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<p>Last night as I prepared dinner I found myself questioning everything I was putting on the table!–the cantaloupe, blueberries, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil. My daughter focused more on the salmon: isn’t there too much mercury in salmon?</p>
<p>Lord, what IS safe? I don’t know WHAT to eat any more!</p>
<p>I presumed all the bagged produce was cleaned and tested (for e.coli) before it went to stores. I’ve never heard of those brands but I do buy quite a bit of bagged spinach. I must say I’m reluctant to buy them now.</p>
<p>Patient, I’m not positive but I think farmed salmon has mercury but Alaskan salmon shouldn’t.</p>
<p>For mercury, the fish with highest levels are swordfish, shark, and albacore (white) tuna. In salmon, levels are low or non-detectable.</p>
<p><a href=“http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:cptoEqfn8dMJ:www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sea-mehg.html+mercury+fish+fda+species&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1[/url]”>http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:cptoEqfn8dMJ:www.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sea-mehg.html+mercury+fish+fda+species&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1</a></p>
<p>Here’s what I’ve read:</p>
<p>Farm salmon can be tainted with dioxins; Alaska salmon isn’t. If you can’t afford fresh Alaska salmon, buy the canned salmon–it’s “wild” salmon, not farm-raised. </p>
<p>As for the greens–what I understand is that the three rinses greens go through probably will not wash the E. Coli off. There’s only a slight risk, of course, that a deer will wander through and p**p on the spinach, or a field or factory worker will have contaminated hands, but it’s there. The safest way to eat salad greens is to not buy the bagged stuff–in which all the leaves are included-- but buy heads of lettuce. Then trim off and throw away the outside leaves where the E.Coli is likely to reside.</p>
<p>Well, it was wild salmon so she was wrong about that.</p>
<p>We had just finished a bag of one of the spinach brands from that particular company (they sell to just about every grocery store around here) and we use(d) it quite often. We also buy bags of lettuce for simplicity but I am even wondering if fresh heads of lettuce are suspect, since they are presently wondering about the irrigation system as being the origin…</p>
<p>and somehow I remember a small e. coli outbreak from contaminated cantaloupe (was on the rind) a few years back. Maybe Woody Allen in Sleeper was right all along!</p>
<p>I ate a few homemade salad wraps last week that I made with bagged “broccoli slaw” and lettuce. I did not wash the slaw product. Surprise, surprise…I was very sick about two days later. I wonder…</p>
<p>Tookie–I read an article about an outbreak such as this one. When investigators traced the problem back to its source they found out that the produce was being triple washed in an outdoor sink set up that was on a dairy farm. The cow manure had contaminated the “organic” greens that had been ‘triple washed’. </p>
<p>Ok, now I am washing everything.</p>
<p>Well, they say that washing isn’t enough. They think that only heat/cooking will take care of destroying the bacteria.</p>
<p>But washing lettuce and spinach leaves ruins the texture! Waaaaaahhhh! </p>
<p>From Delia Smith:</p>
<p>*All lettuces and salad leaves should be eaten as fresh as possible, but first of all, I’ve found the best way to store lettuces is to remove the root, but otherwise leave them whole and enclose them in a polythene bag in the lowest part of the fridge. I believe washing should be avoided if possible, as once the leaves are wet it’s difficult to dry them again and you simply can’t get dressing on to wet salad leaves. What I prefer to do is take a damp piece of kitchen paper and wipe each leaf – this way the lettuce leaves remain dry and can more easily be coated with dressing. Now, I realise many people will not agree with me here and will want to wash the leaves: in that case plunge the separated leaves briefly into cold water and place them in a salad basket, then either hang them up after a good shaking or else swing the basket round and round outdoors. Finish off by drying the leaves carefully with kitchen paper. </p>
<p>Never use a knife when you prepare lettuce, because cutting tends to brown the edges of the leaves. Breaking up the leaves too soon can cause them to go limp quickly, so always leave them whole, if possible, until you’re ready to serve the salad (and even then use your hands to tear them, rather than use a knife).*</p>
<p>You can always do what my friends in Cairo do, soak all greens in a nice bleach mixture!!! And then rinse. Or better yet, get those victory gardens going. :)</p>
<p>overseas, LOL, my paranoia must be increasing. I have even been worried about my own herbs and apples! (Well, not so much the apples. But the herbs…“What if there is something in the soil I used to plant them in?”</p>
<p>"From Delia Smith:</p>
<p>All lettuces and salad leaves should be eaten as fresh as possible, but first of all, I’ve found the best way to store lettuces is to remove the root, but otherwise leave them whole and enclose them in a polythene bag in the lowest part of the fridge. I believe washing should be avoided if possible, as once the leaves are wet it’s difficult to dry them again and you simply can’t get dressing on to wet salad leaves. What I prefer to do is take a damp piece of kitchen paper and wipe each leaf – this way the lettuce leaves remain dry and can more easily be coated with dressing. Now, I realise many people will not agree with me here and will want to wash the leaves: in that case plunge the separated leaves briefly into cold water and place them in a salad basket, then either hang them up after a good shaking or else swing the basket round and round outdoors. Finish off by drying the leaves carefully with kitchen paper. </p>
<p>Never use a knife when you prepare lettuce, because cutting tends to brown the edges of the leaves. Breaking up the leaves too soon can cause them to go limp quickly, so always leave them whole, if possible, until you’re ready to serve the salad (and even then use your hands to tear them, rather than use a knife)."</p>
<p>…O…MG. It’s a damn salad, eat it.</p>